Though the makers of AZAAN were trying to keep this fact hidden lest it leads to some unwanted attention and as a result some unnecessary controversy, the truth is out of the bag. As has now been revealed, the film explores the backend operations of India's external intelligence agency, popularly known as RAW (Research and Analysis Wing). Though this forms the crux of the film's storyline, the makers didn't want to use this as a prime driver for their film's promotion since it was in good trust and faith that they had worked in close collaboration with those in the know-how of the agency.

'When director Prashant Chadha and debutant Sachiin Joshi were putting together AAZAAN, it was but obvious that they study RAW operations carefully,' says a source, 'Their film is touted to be the biggest ever espionage thriller to have come out of Bollywood and isn't a frivolous take on affairs. The film's subject - that of biological warfare - has been taken quite seriously and for that Prashant as well as Sachiin met quite a few officials who had inside information around how the operations work.'

Though it is yet unknown whether these officials belonged to RAW or another body that worked in close coordination with the agency, what is known is the fact that there were some stunning facts that were revealed. Quite a few of them were around terrorist operations that take place at the global level and how RAW works tirelessly to foil them on a regular note. CHECK OUT: AAZAAN-one of the most expensive films of Bollywood

'As Prashant and Sachiin delved deeper down, they realised the need of going beyond India and understanding how intelligence agencies work across the globe,' the source continues, 'For that they went through extensive research about ISI (Pakistan), KGB (Russia), Gestapo (Germany), MI5 (UK) and CIA (USA) amongst others.'

When contacted, neither the director nor the actor was willing to talk much about the people they met in the course of making the film and the information that they gathered. However they were expectedly appreciative of the effort put by Indian intelligence when it comes to safeguarding the interest of the nation that has a population of over 120 crores.

'I guess what a RAW agent goes through is something that you and I can't even imagine,' says Sachiin, 'He does a lot but eventually gets no glory or credit out of it. It's a thankless job but then it is because of people like him that we still live in a relatively peaceful nation when compared to so many other countries across the globe.'